GFI will route all trades for Turkish equities through Ticaret Securities and there will be a reciprocal arrangement with GFI giving access for Ticaret clients to markets in Western Europe.

Steve McMillan, GFI's senior managing director, Europe, said: "The Turkish economy is growing rapidly and we want to provide our clients with the widest possible choice of investments. We are already a member of several international stock exchanges and provide access to others through arrangements similar to this."

Johan Hattingh, director of Ticaret Securities added: "We are pleased to be able to offer GFI and its clients access to the Istanbul Stock Exchange, one of the largest emerging markets exchanges. Also, as well as a fast and secure execution process, we can offer GFI's clients independent and objective research and analysis.'

GFI and Ticaret said that they also expected to be offering services in Turkish fixed income and credit.
Background note: GFI Group Inc (www.GFIgroup.com) is a leading inter-dealer broker specializing in over-the-counter derivatives products and related securities. GFI Group Inc. provides brokerage services, market data and analytics software products to institutional clients in markets for a range of credit, financial, equity and commodity instruments.